Faculty Credentials

Faculty Credentials

A Faculty Credential form is completed for each new PT and FT faculty member to ensure that each instructor for the course is qualified or justified to teach the course based on SACSCOC guidelines. See SACSCOC Standard 6.2.a.

Official transcripts and other necessary documentation must be filed in the personnel file of each faculty member to show evidence of their qualifications and credentials. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools permits, in certain situations, a waiver of traditional credential requirements for instructors (see 6.2.a in the accreditation criteria). Blue Ridge Community College endorses the principle that some instructors, as a result of nontraditional educational or training experiences or as a result of related work experiences, are fully qualified to teach in many areas. The College acknowledges the need in such circumstances to fully document and maintain a record of those competencies. A faculty credential form will be completed for all instructors. This form will be completed before officially hiring an instructor, and the form along with any attachments will become a part of the instructor’s personnel file maintained in Human Resources.

The official documentation must certify the following credentials:

1. All faculty members teaching credit courses in the following areas: humanities/fine arts; social/behavioral sciences; and natural sciences/mathematics must have completed at least eighteen (18) graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline and hold at least a master’s degree, or hold the minimum of a master’s degree with a major in the teaching discipline.

2. All faculty members teaching credit courses in professional, occupational, and technical areas that are components of associate degree programs designed for college transfer must have at least eighteen (18) graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline and hold at least a master’s degree, or hold the minimum of the master’s degree with a major in the teaching discipline.

3. All faculty members teaching credit courses in professional, occupational, and technical areas that are components of associate degree programs not usually resulting in college transfer must possess appropriate academic preparation coupled with work experience. The appropriate credentials will be determined for each faculty member by the appropriate dean and the Vice President for Instruction or a designee.

4. In exceptional cases, outstanding professional experience and demonstrated contributions to the teaching discipline may be presented in lieu of formal academic preparation in the above areas. Such cases must be justified on the credential form and approved by the Vice President for Instruction or a designee.